Travis did not know what she meant. Who is Pepe and why does he not remember him being Pepe. He could only remember him being a tadpole.
He thought to himself "Why Mother must be crazy, right? There is no way I'm this creature named Pepe. She must be mistaken. I would remember that. Yeah she is mistaken now that I think of that!"
His mother said "Travis look at this picture."
When Travis turned around he saw what he had been looking for his whole life.
His true identity.